FireWire Depot LLC has introduced its new Cutter 800+, a combination FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 hard disk drive enclosure. The new 2.5-inch drive enclosure — designed to accommodate a hard disk drive mechanism you install yourself — will begin shipping on Monday, September 29, 2003, according to the company’s Web site.
The Cutter 800+ uses Oxford Semiconductors’ Oxford 922 chipset and is constructed from aluminum. The drive features two FireWire 800 interfaces and a USB 2.0 interface on its backplane, and is designed to work specifically with 9.5mm hard disk drive mechanisms.
The drive enclosure ships with a user manual, carrying case and an external universal auto-switching power adapter. Also included are a 5-pin to 4-pin USB 2.0 cable and a 9-pin to 9-pin FireWire 800 cable.
FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 both ship standard on Apple’s Power Mac G5 and recently updated 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 models; FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 are also downwardly-compatible with the FireWire 400 and USB 1.1 interfaces found on other Macs (an optional FireWire 800 – 400 cable or adapter is required).
The Cutter 800+ carries a retail price of US$142.95.